Closure for door openings



July 14, 1925. 1,545,551

J. F. COMEE ET AL CLOSURE FOR DOOR OPENINGS Filed Sept. 4, 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 14, 1925. w

I J. F. COMEE ET AL CLOSURE FOR noon OPENINGS Filed Sept. 4, 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 July 14, 1925.

J. F. COMEE ET AL CLOSURE FOR DOOR OPENINGS 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 4, 1924 v5 W 2 7w 5 C 6 6 5a $5 ,5 J 1 0% w July 14, 1925.

J. F. COMEE ET AL CLOSURE FOR DOOR OPENINGS Filed Sept. 4. 192 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Jbsepb If Comes Patented July 14, 1925.

.Iosnrn I. COME AND sex a.

KLOHS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CLOSURE FOR DOOR OPENINGS.

Application filed September 4, 1924. Serial No. 735,804.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOSEPH F. COMEE and SAM F. KLOHS, citizens of the United States, and residents of Chica o, in the county of Cook and State of Ilhnols, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Closures for Door Openings, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates tOlIllPIOVQIIlBIltS 1n freight car doors and has special reference to extra wide doors for freight cars used for the transportation of bulky articles such as automobiles.

Such extra wide doors are usually made in two parts which are arranged to slide along the car in opposite directions to be separated to uncover the door opening. It is desirable, if not necessary that a removable post he provided at the joining edges of the two parts of the door for properly securing the two parts of the door in closed position. The door opening being so long, usually about ten feet, ,in a car designed for the transportation of automobiles, the post, which must be securely held in position, fre quently becomes wedged so tightly, due usually to the impossibility of making the car structure rigid enough to preserve its origi nal dimensions. that it is necessary to use great force to remove the post, sometimes even to the extent of destroying it or its parts. So far as we are aware such posts, heretofore have been single piece posts of a length to be easily placed in position in the door-way between the side sill at the bottom of the door opening and the side plate at the top of the door opening and provided with some sort of interlocking connections so that it would be retained in position between the top and bottom of the door opening. Even though the post might be easily placed in position. the straining of the car in transportation with its load would fre quently cause the side plate to sag down, in other words approach the side sill and thus tightly bind the post in place.

The object of our invention is to provide a post structure which can be shortened sufficiently to permit its ready and free removal from its position in the door-way and likewise permit it tobe lengthened after it is slid into position. This chan e in length of the post is sufficient to provide ample clearance for the movements of the post into and out of position and to make it long enough when in operating position to properly fulfill its function of a strut and a door strengthening member. The post lengthening and shortening mechanism is so arranged that when the post is in lengthened condition all lever pivots are relieved of strain and the compression imposed on the post is sustained by solid material.

The mechanism is very simple, requirin only the swinging of one lever throug ninety degrees to completely lengthen or shorten the ing or boltmg of the ends of the post to the top and bottom of the door opening.

Our invention consists in a post for the purpose described which can be shortened for movement into and out of operating position and which can be readily lengthened after being placed in operating position. Our invention also consists in a post structure of the kind described which comprises solid compression sustaining material from end to end when in lengthened condition. Our invention further consists of many details of construction and operation hereinafter more fully described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Our invention will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification and in which Figure 1, is a fragmentary side view of a freight car provided with a wide doorway and also with a door closing and locking mechanism embodying our invention in a preferred form;

Figure 2, is a horizontal sectional view on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3, is a fragmentary view of the doors and post as seen from within the car;

Figure 4, is an enlarged fragmentary view showing the lower part of the post as seen from within the car;

Figure 5, is a fragmentary vertical section on the line 5-5 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary vertical section on the line 6-6 of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary horizontal section on the line 77 of Figure 5;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary horizontal section on the line 88 of Figure 5;

Figure 9 is an enlarged view of the upper part of the post as seen from within the car;

Figure 10 is a vertical section on the line 10-10 of Fig. 9;

Figures 11 and 12 are fragmentary horiost and also to effect the dowel- I provided with a metal edge comprising a This opening in-cars in which automobiles are similar bulky articles are transmitted are usually about ten feet wide. It has been found impractical to close such an opening with a single door and further it is desir-- able to support the roof or side plate between the sides of the door opening. It has been common practice to provide a door made of two parts, which areadapted to meet at a point more or less near the middle of the door opening usually one of the parts as shown at 3 being substantially six feet wide,'which is the width of the usual freight car 'door and the other part 4 about four feet wide and adapted to close the extra width of thedoor opening. It has also been common practice to provide a post which is either separate from the door parts or preferably carried by the smaller of the door parts and preferably arranged at the inner edge of the smaller door part. 'Heretofore,

such posts, carried by. the door part have been adapted to be wedged into place as the door part is brought to its door closing position, but it has been found that frequently it has been an impossibility to open said door part and remove the post for providing the full door opening, without the necess'lty of using a sledge to the post which frequently resulted in damaging if not destroying the post as they frequently become so tightly wedged between the side sill and the side plate.

1 The door parts 3 and 4,. as is usual are hung from arail or track 5, by means of hangers 6 provided with rollers 7. The lower edges of the door parts are prevented from swinging out by means of fixed guide brackets 8 which as usual are secured to the car side below the door opening and project up above the lower edges of the door parts leaving them free to be slid along the car on the track 5 to open and close the door openin 2. We provide a post designated genera 1y by 9 the post proper or main part being made of a fair sized metal angle member 10.- The angle 10 is secured to the inner side of the narrow part 4 of the door closure near its inner edge one flange 11 of the angle being secured flat against the inner face of the door part by bolts 12. Preferably the inneredge of the-door part 4 is provided with an inner metal edge comprising a metal Z-bar 13 arranged so that one of its flanges 14 will overlap the adjacent edge of'the door part 3, which is likewise metal Z-bar 15. li'referably the,Z-bar 13 is secured 1n positwn and to the angle 10 by rivets 16 before thetwo are bolted to the edge of the door thus strengthening the angle bar 10 by the Z-bar 13.

The post 9 as thus far described constitutes-an integral part of the smaller door part,-it slides back and forth with the door part, but it is obvious that it could be a separate part placed in position independently of the door parts and adapted to have the door parts secured to it in an suitable manner when closed together. he usual means of locking the larger door part in closed position are not shown.

We provide a floor socket member 17 bolted to the floor of the car beneath the closed position of the post and provided with a flat top-surface 18 for receiving and supporting the lower end of the post.

Upon the ends of the post member 10 we secure end members 19 on the lower end and 20 on the upper end which are formed to operatively carrythe'post lengthenin and doweling mechanism and having end surfaces for contacting with the upper and lower fixed parts.

The'foot member 19 is secured to the post member 10 by rivets 21 and the upper end member 20 is secured to the post proper by rivets 22.

Upon the foot member 19 there is mounted a vertically movable support block 24 having a flat bottom surface 25 adapted to be pressed down against the flat top 18 of the floor socket member when it is desired to lengthen the-post. This block is suitably guided in its up and down movements by the surrounding vertical walls 26, 27. and 28 of the foot member 19. The bottom of the foot member 19 is provided with a doweling projection 29 adapted to enter into a depression or socket 30 in the floor member 17 when the foot piece 19 is forced down to lengthen the post. As indicated at 30 the pocket 30 is open toward the door clear to the bottom of the pocket so that accumulating water will readily drain out and to avoid the possible filling of the pocket with ice, as this might prevent the entering of the locking projection 29.

For liftingvand depressing the foot piece 19 we provide a cam lever 31 pivotally mounted at one end on a horizontal pivot pin 32 rigidly mounted in the foot member 19 and carried by the walls 26 and 28 thereof which are parallel with the doors and hence the lever swings in a plane parallel with the doors. Consequently the lever swings adjacent to and parallel with the inner surface of the doors and preferably close to the inner face of the smaller door part 4 to which the post is secured.

The lever 31 is provided with a cam surface 33 adapted to contact with the top surface 34 of the footpiece 24 and force the same down into contact with the floor menuber 17 when the lever' is swung to horizontal position, as shown in dotted lines Figure 10. For liftin the floor piece 24., when the lever 31 is. ralsed the foot iece 24 is provided with an upwardly exten ing flat projection 35, the pivoted end of the lever 31 being-bifurcated and providing a space 36 to receive this projectlon, as best shown in in full lines, the foot piece 24 is lifted about one half an inch and when the leveris horizontal, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 10, the foot piece rests down on the floor member 17. The foot piece is forced down by the cam surface 33 of the lever and the top 34 of the foot piece is provided with a rounded ridge 39 over wh1ch the cam surface 31 passes and by which the lever is retained against being easily lifted up. To relieve the lever pivot 32 of the compressive strain of the lengthened post we provide a second cam surface 40 on the lever opposite to the cam surface 31 and adapted as the lever is swung down to rise into contact witha stop projection 41 formed on the foot member 27 and whereby the pivoted end of the lever is interposed between the post proper and the movable foot piece. By means of this construction the compressive strains are transmitted through the solid metal of the lever from the foot piece to the post and the pivot 32 only has to be made strong enough to effect the locking and unlocking operations.

For effecting the doweling of the upper end of the post in looking position we provide a vertically movable bolt 42 guided in a suitable guide way in the upper end member 20.

This bolt is arranged at one side of the member 20 and it is adapted to be pushed up to project its upper end 43 into an opening 44 provided in a cap piece 45 secured to the upper side of the door opening in position to receive the bolt 42 when the post is in looking position. To operate the bolt we provide a vertically swinging lever 46 mounted 011 a horizontal pivot pin 47 and provided in one end with a slot 48 which engages a horizontal pin 49 pro ectmg from the lower end of the bolt 42. The opposite end of the lever 46 is connected by a vertical rod 50, which extends down the post, with the pin 37, the lower end of the rod 50' being provided with an enlargement 51 through which the pin 37 passes. With this construction when the lever 31 is thrown down. to lock the post in place the bolt 42 1s projected up into the opening 43 thus simultaneously interlocking both ends of the post with the car body.

To retain the lever 31 in upright or in other words post unlocked position we provide a lateral stop projection 52 on the handle part of the lever which is adapted to be sprung behind the rod 50 when the lever is'clear up.

The rod 50 is easily sprung out of the way to permit the projection 52 to be forced behind 1t and to permit the ready release of the lever when it is desired in place.

In doors of this character it is desirable to so hang them that they are quite free as they slide back and forth and are adapted to be drawn in tightly against the car side as they reach their normal closed positions. For the purpose of drawing in the post and with it the door 4 we arrange suitable co operating inclined or wedging surfaces on the engaging parts at the ends of the post. At the lower end the floor plate 17 is provided with an inclined surface 53 on its rear face and the floor piece 18 has a depending flange 54 having a cooperating inclined for ward face 55 whereby when the post i moved to its door closing position the post is drawn inwardly until stopped by the pressure of the door against the side of the car.

To prevent the door part being moved too far in the door closing movement we provide a stop projection 56 with which the advancing end of the projection 54 will contact.

At the upper end there is a similar arrangement. The top fixed member 45 has an inclined surface 57 on its rear side and the top end member of the post has a co operating upwardly projecting flange part 58 having a cooperating inclined surface 51) on its outer face. In this instance also there is a stop 60 to prevent the post being moved too far toward the opposite side of the door opening. These two wedging constructions serve to draw the forward edge of the door part 4 tightly in against the side of the ear and the Z-bar construction at the meeting edges of the two door parts serves to draw and hold the adjacent edge of the door part 3 in tightly against the side of the car.

As many modifications of our invention will readily suggest themseves to one skilled in the art we do not limit or confine our invention to the specific details of construction or operation of the several parts of the device.

WVe claim to lock the post 1. A structure, such as a freight car, hav- 'comprising a post adapted to ing, in combination with a post adapted to be removably fixed between the top and bottom sides of the openin and adjacent to the meeting edges of the oor parts, means for lengthening and shortening the post either to serve as a strut between the top and bottom of the opening or to provide ample clearance between the ends'of the post and said top and bottom of the opening to permit the post to be moved freely into and out of operating position.=

2. In a structure such as a freight car, having a door opening, two sliding door parts together adapted to close the opening, a post secured to the inner edge of one of said parts and adapted to be carried thereby, means for extending the length of the post, when carried to door closingposition to serve as a strut between the top and bottom of said openin and means for shortening the post to a rd ample clearance between said post and top and bottom of the opening to permit the st to be freely moved into and out of oor closing position. 1

3. The herein described improvement, comprisin a door post, norm length to freely interposed between the top and bottom of a door opening, and means for lengthening the post after it has been ositioned, to cause it to serve as a strut etween said top and bottom of the opening.

4. The herein described im rovement, e tightly interposed betweenthe top and bottom of an opening to brace said top and bottom apart, and cam and lever means for shortening the post to permit its free removal from its bracing position.

5. The herein described improvement, comprising a door post, normally of alength to be freely interposed between the top and bottom of a door openin means for lengthening the post after it as been positioned to cause it to serve as a strut between said top and bottom of the opening, and said lengthening means formed for doweling one end of the post in position.

6. The herein described improvement comprising): door post, normally of a length to freely interposed between the top and bottom of a door opening, means for lengthening the post after it has been osition'ed, to cause it to serve as a strut etween said to and bottom of the opening, said lengt ening means formed for doweling one end'of the post in position, and means for simultaneously doweling the opposite end of the post in position.

-7. In a door closing mechanism of the kind described two sliding door parts adapted together to close a door openmg,

post means carried by the inner edge of one of the door parts for interposition between ally-of a the top and bottom of the door opening, a foot member on the post, means for normally holding said foot-member raised to allow the post to move back and forth freel a. doweling projection on said foot mom I, the bottom of the opening provided with a socket for receiving said doweling projection when said foot memher is forced down, a dowel member at the upper end of the post, means operatively connecting said upper dowel with the foot operating means for simultaneous operation.

8. In a. mechanism of the kind described a securing post, a foot pieceon the post a cam lever for depressing and lifting the foot piece, a dowel member at the upper end of the post, means operatively connecting the dowel member with said lever for projecting the dowel when the foot piece 1s forced down and vice-versa.

9. In a mechanism of the kind described, asecuring post, a foot iece on the post, a cam lever adapted to depressed from an upright position to a horizontal position for depressing said foot piece, cam

means, carried by the rigid part of the post for engagement by said lever to interpose- -sa1d lever between the post proper and the foot piece to relieve the lever pivot of strain as and for the purpose specif ed.

10'. In a mechanism 7 of the kind described, a securing post, a foot piece on the post, a cam lever adapted to be depressed from an upright position to a horizontal position for epressing said foot piece, a dowel member carried by the upper end of the post, an operating rod carried by the post and operatively connected at its upper end with said dowel member, a slot and pin' connection between the lower end of said operating rod and said lever whereby the lever is permitted to move further than is necessary for operating said dowel member.

11. The combination with a wall provided with a door opening and a door movable along the wall adapted to open and close said opening of a post carried by the inner edge of said door, and cooperating wedging surfaces on the ends of the post and the top and bottom walls of the opening adapted, as the door nears the limit of its closing movement, to tightly draw the door against said'wall.

12. The combination with a structure having a door opening of a post, normally tween the top and bottom of the opening, cam and lever means for lengthening the post, after it has been positioned to cause it to brace said top and bottom apart, and said lengthening means formed for doweling one end of the post in position.

14. The combination with a structure having a door opening of a post, normally short enough to be freely positioned between the top and bottom of the opening, cam and lever means for lengthening the post, after it has been positioned to cause it to brace said top and bottom apart, said lengthening means formed for doweling one end of the post in position, and means for 15 to be tightly positioned between the top and bottom of the opening to brace said top and bottom apart, and lever and cam means for shortening the post to permit its free removal from its bracing position.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 27th day 25 of August, 1928.

JOSEPH F. COMEE. SAM F. KLOHS. 

